The public transportation industry has made significant progress in establishing a national training and certification program for transit bus maintenance technicians. An apprenticeship program for bus maintenance technicians has been developed. In addition, a transit bus maintenance technician certification testing program has been developed through the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). In support of this testing certification program, standards for training curricula have been developed through the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Bus Standards Program. Similar work has also been conducted for a training and certification program for rail transit maintenance technicians. In addition to these efforts, there is a need to define and establish credentials for a national certification for transit vehicle maintenance instructors. The Transportation Learning Center prepared this report under TCRP Project F-19. The objective of this research was to develop a plan for potential implementation of a vehicle maintenance instructor training and certification program. To accomplish this objective, a feasibility study to determine the viability of a national certification system for a vehicle maintenance instructor training and certification program was conducted. A series of online surveys and interviews with subject matter experts were conducted to provide the foundation for the Training and Certification Program Plan and the roadmap for implementation. (Author/publisher)
Abstract